


The Bizarro Mirror

by Tezca



Category: Original Work, Steve Irwin - Fandom
Genre: Afterlife, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-28
Updated: 2019-02-28
Packaged: 2019-11-06 18:48:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17945141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tezca/pseuds/Tezca
Summary: Wouldn't you be curious if there was a mirror that let you see an evil version of you? Steve was.





	The Bizarro Mirror

**Author's Note:**

> Written this for a prompt in r/WritingPrompts on reddit. I just got hit with inspiration.

Curiosity killed the cat they say, can’t really blame him though. Can’t blame anyone really. If someone came up to you and said there was a mirror that allowed you to view an evil version of yourself, wouldn’t you be, at least, the teeniest bit curious? He knew he was, at least, enough to wander into the area on its less busy days. 

Course there were also people that warned him against the Bizarro Mirror as everyone here puts it. Depending on who you were in life and the things you did, the result can truly horrify someone to their core. He has gotten helpful tips from asking around, the one from someone who had died decades before him stuck out in the forefront of his mind right now.

_“Look, take this here bit of advice son, whatever hellish things you see in that mirror, try to remember that you didn’t do any of that stuff. It’ll keep you from getting messed up completely in the head. It ain’t fun wandering around eternity wondering if you was really capable of doing any of that shit when you was alive.”_

__

__

_“Got it, thanks mate!”_

_“Anytime. Oh one last thing, don’t be afraid to get drunk afterward to forget if you like. It’s almost a tradition around here.”_

With that in mind, Steve found himself next in line, someone was still using it. Despite not being sure if there was any etiquette around the mirror, he opted to wait outside the door. It’s only been about two months - or that’s what he can figure out at least, time seemed to work differently here - since he arrived, granted, but compared to most people in this ethereal city, he’s still in Afterlife Society 101.

After what felt like just a short time has passed, the door opened, a lovely looking woman with long, brown hair that reminded him of Terri -just in a braid instead of letting it all be down -. Unlike Terri, however, this person was wearing something that appeared to come from a previous century. The late 1800s/early 1900s if he were to guess.

“Sorry I took so long in there sir, I got inspired more than I thought I was gonna get.”

“It’s alright mate,” Steve paused for a second, that was an interesting choice of words she used to describe the mirror.

Not that he was deathly afraid of doing this before - the ironic use of the word wasn’t lost on him -, but the word seemed to bring some kind of ease, “The bloke I asked about this implied it’ll be super horrifying.”

What if scenarios threaten to run through his mind, he was a wildlife conservationist in life, so it wasn’t a huge stretch to reckon what his evil counterpart would be. Some world infamous poacher? He shuddered at the thought.

“It can be. The first time, admittedly, will be the most...jarring experience. You get sorta used to it the more times you come here. Having a creative mind helps you deal with it, at least for some of us writing types, I get ideas for my novels and short stories from my counterpart. I’m Jesse by the way.”

She held out her hand to shake, Steve took it with one of his patent big smiles. 

“I’m Steve Irwin, please to meet ya.”

Jesse took note of his Australian accent, she gave a complimentary smile “That’s a fascinating accent you have.”

“Thanks! I came from Australia.”

Jesse gave him a quick look over, his khaki uniform gave her the impression that he came from a different time after she had died.

“I came from Tennessee in America. You probably came after my time I’m guessing.”

“Yeah, I only died relatively recently. Stabbed in the heart.”

Now Jesse felt awkward and very apologetic in more ways than one, she felt a wave of coldness at the mention. Some people up here don’t want to reveal how and when they died, usually, those who either died too young or victims of a horrific crime, and it was etiquette to respect that.

“Oh my gosh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry!”

Steve put a friendly hand on her back, “It’s all good mate, relax, I’m happy I got to spend the amount I did on Earth, I left behind a huge legacy-”

“But stabbed in the heart?! I sure hope whoever done it gets caught and thrown in prison for life!”

Steve put on a calm and reassuring smile, out of context it did sound like he was killed by another person instead of an animal, “Actually it was a stingray’s barb Jesse, wasn’t his fault. He was just doing what he was doing to protect his territory.”

Jesse relaxed her shoulders and took a breath to calm down, “Oh, well...I died of natural causes.”

Afraid of the silence between them getting more awkward than it already is, Jesse changed the topic, “If you like I can go with you for support, some people offer to do that for first-timers to this here room.”

Steve mulled it over for a few seconds before he softly sighed. He was feeling more anxious than usual, he would be confident enough otherwise, but this time a part of him was nagging at him to not go ahead with this. It was, in a way, strange for him but, on the other hand, it did feel more personal in a way than not.

Back out mate, back out now if you want to keep your sanity, you really don’t want to know what your evil version is like. You’re better off not knowing. 

His consciousness kept nagging at him, but he quelled them down, while externally, he took her up on the offer. The two entered the room, different mirrors of all shape and sized decorated the walls, like a hall of mirrors but spacious. It was more like, a grand ballroom of mirrors. On the other side of the room, there was a huge circular mirror. That must be the one take a glimpse into the other world.

The first few steps were taken in silence, Steve looked around to marvel at the grandeur of the mirrors, some looked more expensive than others but all provided the same function. He was semi-lost in awe before the silence was broken by his new friend.

“What did you do while you was alive?” Jessi asked casually, she was curious.

“I was a wildlife conservationist, I dedicated my whole life to protecting animals and educating the world that they needed saving!”

“That sounds fascinating! All I know about them is, which one is good to eat, although you probably don’t want to hear that part, my apologies.”

“I reckon you did what you had to do to survive. What time period did you come from anyways?”

“I was born in 1878, you?”

“1962.”

“Kinda funny now, you look older than me,” Jesse laughed, she explained further when she saw the little confusion on his face, “You can change your appearance up here to look younger if you wish, this is what I looked like during my 30s.”

“Ah, gotcha.”

By now they were in front of a couple of steps that led up to the mirror, it was biggest in the room and - compared to the others - felt more imposing. There was a moment of hesitation before he slowly walked up the steps and stood before the mirror. Jesse, meanwhile, stayed back. 

When the reflection on the mirror faded away and came alive with the scene of the nighttime sky, some questions flew through her mind. She could catch a glimpse here and there, but most of her view was obscured by Steve. She wondered what he saw, wondered what his evil counterpart would be. Would it be more subtle or, outright evil? Her counterpart was a wanted outlaw, so in her case, it was the latter.  
His evil version would probably be related to animals, it was a reasonable guess given what she was told. There was a palpable sense of heaviness and dread in the air when it eventually ended a short while later. Steve stood in front of the mirror, staring at his reflection for half a minute before he turned back around.

The first thing she noticed was how hard the expression on his face, dismayed regretfulness in his eyes. She got the notion whatever he saw was deeply gut crushing. A version of him so horrible he regretted coming here. That happened a good amount among visitors to this room, more often than not really.

Steve walked down the steps and Jesse wanted to ask what he saw, but she was unsure if she’ll even get a reply, he probably just want to plain forget right away. She never wanted to be impolite, but it’ll be a lie to say she wasn’t feeling curious about it.

The two started to leisurely walk back to the entrance, at first there was silence, but the nosy side of her was a little too strong to ignore.

“What did you see?” She asked softly as she gazed at Steve for a moment.

A few seconds of silence that passed, anyone can tell he didn’t want to talk about. She waited for a reply, then her mind told her to just let it go. Best let it be.

Steve, however, did reply, a simple answer that hid the grisly details behind a concise short, one word. 

“Poacher.”


End file.
